Carbon-on-quartz device for dopamine release

A multiple of a conductive material, such as carbon, with a pure material, such as quartz creates this possible. It allows a origination of an optoelectrical device with integrated functions that takes advantage of a properties of both components’ materials.

“Carbon is a good nucleus conductor, with a fast aspect resistant to common chemicals. This creates it a really good electrode element – that means CO can supplement a intuiting duty to a device”, says Ada-Ioana Bunea.

Quartz is used for actuationOne of a options for generating CO is by a pyrolysis of certain polymers. This adds flexibility to a phony process, since polymers can be patterned regulating e.g. photolithography, and a settlement will be recorded after pyrolysis. In addition, CO is biocompatible, that creates it a suitable substrate for a connection of biological samples (e.g. branch cells, bacteria, thylakoids). To concede estimate regulating pyrolysis, a thermally-resistant element is needed, and this is where quartz comes into play. Quartz is pure in UV-Vis, so it can be used for actuation: Light can pass by a quartz areas of a device, and strech light-responsive biological samples trustworthy to a carbon, triggering specific responses.

“During my PhD project, we built and tested carbon-on-quartz inclination for dual really opposite purposes: Developing a biomedical make for a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, and fabricating a bioanode for biophotovoltaics,” says Ada-Ioana Bunea.

The biomedical make is formed on commercial, visual fibers.

“Through pyrolysis, a polyimide polymer aegis ordinarily found on visual fibers turns into carbon, and we obtain a elementary device that we named an visual fiber electrode. In a future, a quartz core will be used to beam light and kindle a recover of dopamine from light-responsive neurons, when a thoroughness of a neurotransmitter in a patient’s mind becomes too low,” Ada-Ioana Bunea explains.

This is now being investigated during DTU Nanotech in a Training4CRM plan led by highbrow Jenny Emnéus.